


Sunny Days

by Briar_Rose7



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: 500 followers Promptathon, F/M, non magical au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-04
Updated: 2017-03-07
Packaged: 2018-09-28 08:10:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10080794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Briar_Rose7/pseuds/Briar_Rose7
Summary: barpurplewritesprompted: The wind blew away my scarf and you saved it for me.Infinite thanks tostillsearching47, my awesome beta.





	1. Chapter 1

“So, what are we going to do now?” Belle wondered, looking hesitantly at her husband.

It had been a really nice day so far. The sun and warmth of the early spring had prompted them to have a picnic in the park, and they’d really enjoyed their afternoon of relaxation until a few minutes before. Unfortunately, a gust of wind had suddenly blown away Belle’s shawl, and they’d chased it for a while until it had landed… on the highest branches of a tree. The most frustrating thing was that the tree wasn’t so tall per se, but both Belle and Nicholas, being rather short, couldn’t reach. 

“Now we get creative,” Nicholas replied, his jaw set in a firm line.

He knew how much Belle loved that shawl, and he didn’t intend to see her lose it. He balanced his weight on his good foot and took his cane off the ground. Grabbing it almost from the base, he could use it to reach the shawl and disentangle it from the branches, or so he hoped.

Belle rushed to his side, helping him balance himself without hurting his right foot. He leaned even more heavily on her, when he realized that he would need to stretch further to reach the runaway scarf properly, despite the added height of the cane.

“Nick, please, I don’t want you to hurt yourself,” Belle pleaded when she realized he was straining himself more than was wise. “We can wait until someone else comes to the park, and ask for help,” she insisted.

“No way,” he replied, still focused on his task. “I’m almost there, I just need to be careful not to snag it on the branches… GOT IT!” he exclaimed triumphantly as he freed the shawl from the last of the branches and it started to fall. 

On instinct, he lunged forward to grab it before it could touch the ground, and that was a big mistake. It meant he put way too much weight on his already strained right foot. He lost his balance. Belle tried to keep him upright, but he was too heavy for her, and they both fell to the ground in a tangle of limbs.

“Oh my God, Nick, I’m so sorry. Are you okay?” Belle exclaimed, hurrying to take her weight off of him.

“I’m alright, sweetheart. I’m sorry, this was all my fault,” he replied. “Although I must say the outcome is stil rather pleasant for me,” he added, wrapping his arms around her and pressing her once again flush against his body.

Belle giggled, relieved that he hadn’t hurt himself because of her shawl. It was nice to lie together in the grass, snuggling like teenagers with their first crush.

“Thank you, Nick, for everything. You’re my knight in shining suit, except this suit is probably irredeemably stained by grass now,” she noted, pressing a kiss against his jaw.

“Well, I don’t care about the suit. There are millions of suits in the world, but there’s only one of you; and as I’m the only one who was lucky enough to marry you, I’d say I got the better end of the deal,” he said, smiling at her like a fool.

“I think you’re wrong. _I’m_ the lucky one,” she declared, pressing a soft kiss against his lips.


	2. Rainy Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [still-searching47](http://archiveofourown.org/users/stillsearching47/pseuds/stillsearching47) asked: Sunny Days!Belle or Gold: How did you meet/start dating?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I wasn't planning this new chapter, but I'm honestly happy with the result!

Today, for Nicholas Gold, was proving to be a really awful day.

His misadventures had started the moment he’d woken up, when he’d first seen the terrible storm that was raging outside. Humidity always made his right foot hurt more than usual, but having to balance an umbrella in one hand and a cane in the other was pure hell. 

As expected, his ankle had been throbbing badly by the time he’d made it to school. Luckily enough, he hadn’t had many classes to teach today, so he’d gritted his teeth and waited impatiently for the moment he would be able to go home. 

However, when he’d tried to leave the building, he’d realized that it was raining even harder than when he’d arrived. He’d had to face the fact that he wouldn’t be able to walk to his apartment, despite it only being a short distance away. Therefore, he’d decided to cross the road and wait in the little café across from the school, in the hope that the weather would soon turn less sour.

Unfortunately, his bad luck wasn’t over yet. Gold was sitting at his table, reading the newspaper, when he distractedly knocked over his coffee cup. He’d only been there five minutes. The hot beverage spilled all over his right hand, and he swore under his breath as he hastily grabbed some tissues to dab at the mess. He removed his ring, hoping that the coffee hadn’t stained it, but the wet jewel slipped from his hand, rolling under his booth. 

“Dammit,” he exclaimed, this time louder. 

It was like the whole universe was conspiring against him today. That ring meant a lot to him, but crouching down to retrieve it was out of the question. It would have been painful on a normal day, but today he would scream in pain if he even tried to kneel on the floor. 

“Hey, do you need help?” a kind voice came from behind him.

He turned around to find a beautiful girl with chestnut hair and blue eyes staring at him. 

“I’m sorry?” Gold blurted out in surprise. 

“I saw that something fell off your table, and I’m guessing it won’t be easy for you to retrieve it,” she explained, glancing at his cane. “I could get it for you, if you want.”

“Would you really?” 

“Of course,” she reassured him, smiling as if helping a grumpy stranger was the best thing she could think to do.

“Oh, and I almost forgot. Here, take this,” she added, handing him her glass.

Gold’s eyes narrowed in confusion. “What?”

“It’s iced tea, and the glass is pretty cold. You can press it against your hand if you want, it might help ease the pain from the hot coffee,” she explained.

He took the glass from her, muttering a ‘thank you’, still not quite believing his eyes. She was right; it was, indeed, a great relief for his hand.

“So, what it is that I have to retrieve?” she asked.

“Oh, my ring. It’s golden, with a blue stone on it.”

“Got it. Let’s see if we can find it,” she said, kneeling on the floor.

“Be careful, there’s coffee on the floor, I wouldn’t want you to ruin your skirt,” he warned. 

She crouched down on the floor, trying to see the ring under the booth, and only then did Nicholas realize that the motion was highlighting the wonderful curve of her backside. He couldn’t help but stare for a few moments, immediately feeling guilty for it. Was he really the kind of man to ogle the girl that had been so kind to him?

“Ugh, I really don’t want to know what this soggy thing is that I just found under here,” came her voice from the floor. “Here we go, I think I found it!” she said triumphantly a minute later. 

She got up from the floor, patting her skirt to take the dust off of it, proudly holding the jewel in her hand.

“Is it the one you were looking for?” she asked.

“Yes, it is, thank you so much,” he said, smiling gratefully at her.

“You’re welcome! Anyway, I think it might be better if you washed it before putting it on again. I’m definitely going to have to wash my hands before I can think about eating again.”

“How about I buy you a snack, or another iced tea? You really helped me a lot, and I’d like to return the favor,” Gold offered.

The words had left his mouth before he could second guess himself. Would she think him a creep, for the suggestion, given she was twenty years his junior?

“Yes, I’d really like that! That’s very kind of you.”

She smiled at him, and kept flashing him smiles as they sat together with their newly-ordered beverages. 

“Seriously, how can you drink iced tea with that storm raging outside?” he asked, bewildered.

“I once swore to myself that I would never let the climate dictate my food choices. If I want something, I’ll order it; no matter if it’s ice cream in January, soup in August or iced tea in February,” she explained simply.

The time flew by as they talked, and when the rain finally stopped, and it was time to go home, she scribbled her phone number on a napkin for him. He watched her leave the café with a besotted smile on his face; he’d had a terrible day, but right now he felt like the luckiest man alive. 


End file.
